Vignette
by gelfling
Summary: SasuNaru yaoi. Sasuke dreams back to the days when his life was perfect, and awakes to find that in some ways, it still is. From Naruto's POV, much swearing and anger. Some humor and angst added now
1. Shifting Zones

Vignette: 

Shifting Zones

By gelfling

Warnings: shonen ai, SasuNaru.  Sap.  

There are some cases when sleeping the inside of the dreamers' world is soft and warm and peaceful, full of free floating dandelion fluff and a gentle smile of comfort.  These are the dreams beyond reality.

There are some cases when awakening when the riser smiles softly at the enchanting panorama that the day lays out for him and the smell walnut-banana pancakes cooked just right are wafting from the door, or summer mornings laidback in the afternoon with a bowl of cereal and excellent TV.  This is the reality that births the dreams.

And every now and again, these two spectrums of absolute _perfection_ overlap.  This overlap is called the shifting zone.

***

Sasuke watched the board game happily without thinking.  He wasn't sure what it was called or how to play, but he knew that it brought him pleasure.  He felt proud and satisfied also with his move that showed off his perception and insight of the game and understanding of his opponent's mind.  

Itachi was rubbing his lower lip thoughtfully as he studied the board and admired the intricacies and potential his younger brother had woven into him.  His dark eyes glanced upward with a small, grudgingly proud smile at the tousled mop of his little brother's hair.  While not Sasuke was not winning the game, he was indeed proving equal to his brother in contests of the mind: of strategy and judgment.

Beneath them, soft thumps and voices echoed under the floorboards as servants and family members began the balmy summer day.

***

Fingers, warm and impossibly soft, whispered across his cheeks, as relaxing and comforting as a mother's caress.  He could feel his limbs loose and relaxed, his senses alert and scanning for danger always, and finding none.  It was very quiet and warm, and he felt very safe and cherished.  

Out of childish, natural curiosity, he opened his eyes.  

Crystalline light blue eyes the color of bright silver water in the dark welcomed him with a small, reserved smile.  

Naruto's face was unnaturally clean; the perpetual sunshine grubbiness was gone, as was the foolish stupidity, pitifully disgusting eagerness to please and be seen.  In it's place his quality spoke only of confidence and composure and serenity.  Of assurance and security, a word Sasuke never used in regards to Naruto.  

In fact…with his light, inhumanly endless blue eyes and pale golden hair draped down around his head and ivory skin styled and lanced with his exotic whisker scars on either cheek… …Naruto looked quite ethereal.  Ethereal, pure, and peacefully beautiful.  

And nothing at all like the human outcast obnoxious brat he usually was.  

Sasuke, however, thought nothing of this.  He didn't question or analyze or wonder.  He was barely awake, and still hearing the floorboards creak under the servants' feet.  

_The…Forbidden Child._  The words were a bare echo in the deep cavern of his mind, barely even a whisper, and demanded no further attention.

His heart glided straight into his throat in a deliberate and careful movement when Naruto's lips closed over his aggressively—then swung back down to relax in a hammock strung out between his lungs when Naruto fell back instantly, regretfully, and returned relaxed with a gentle nipping on his lips, pressing and brushing fearfully, playfully.

Sasuke inhaled deeply, noted mildly that Naruto's chest bumped against his, their bodies were so close.  A hollow noise rolled up from the back of his throat as a warm and wet raspy tongue traced his bottom lip.  His eyes slid shut and his lips stumbled about, trying to drink down the gentle, alien pleasure Naruto's lips against his were stimulating.  Naruto's skin was hot against his, and Sasuke had worked his left arm halfway out of the sheets to touch him before he lost interest.

Sasuke exhaled mildly annoyed when Naruto raised his head and took his lips away.  He opened his eyes again to glower weakly at the unearthly being that was blinking and blushing down at him.  

And—at long last—a coherent thought was completely formed in Sasuke's mind:  _Stupid Naruto…waking me up…_

Closing his eyes in a weak scowl, Sasuke squirmed underneath Naruto and brought one pale arm out from eth dark depths and deeps of the comforter blanket and reached for the edge of the bed, and fell onto of Naruto, pinning him to the edge of the bed, Sasuke's arm pressed against Naruto's side.  

With another sigh, and the smell and feel of Naruto and apple shampoo around him…Sasuke fell back to dreams.

A/N: Story in progress.  There's going to be a second chapter to this, and quite possibly a third, depending on what happens.  The next chapter will be from Naruto's POV, and probably be a little angsty and angry.  Not sure though, haven't written it.


	2. Shower Musings

Disclaimer: No own, no sue.  No speak, no eat.  No money to speak of, really.

Warnings: Bad words, shonen ai, other stuff.  Humor?  I hope so.

By gelfling

Vignette:

Shower Musing

***

"What do you think we'll leave behind when we're gone?" Iruka asked absently.

Kakashi's face was as distant and aloof as ever, mask firmly in place, his mind apparently a thousand miles away.  

Iruka glanced sideways at him, and tried not to see _under_ the mask, but rather _through_ it.  Iruka decided he didn't like it, or the way he'd taken the conversation deeper than it was supposed to go.

Kakashi shrugged.

"Probably more ninjas."

***

Blue eyes slanted dangerously and Naruto swore vividly between his teeth.  Why was it, when the exact _minute_ that everything, just fucking _everything_ in the whole damned world was about to make some final _freakin' sense_ that the soap just had to crash on _his goddamned foot!_

Always!  

Damn it!

And it wasn't—_Shit_!

In a poor show of shinobi grace, Naruto, whilst rubbing his offended and throbbing appendage between his fingers, leaning against the wall and cursing the soap, had the poor fortune to _step_ and put _all_ his weight on the aforesaid soap.  Which was quite soapy and wet.

With a muffled scream, slapping of limbs and "_fwwmmp_!" noises, did Naruto finally cease motion.  Not however, thought.

_This is all_, Naruto decided, _Sasuke's Fault_.

Which, of course, it was.  Sasuke was one of the true and select people that Naruto hated on a personal basis, and not out of a defensive reflex.  Most people hated Naruto, so, Naruto reflexively hated them back.  Sasuke, however, was not such a case.

The basis for hating Sasuke was simple: He had what Naruto wanted.  

People _saw_ him.  He was instantly loved by any adolescent girl with eyes and an idea of beauty in their carefully styled heads.  Sakura, Naruto's childhood crush and adolescent obsession actually _protected_ Sasuke from Naruto, as if Naruto was going to—contaminate him with his Naruto-ness cooties.  Sakura hated, well, no, not hated but certainly _disliked_ Naruto because she liked Sasuke.  And that hurt.  How much Naruto would never say because he honestly didn't acknowledge the sheer _depth_ of the pain.  It was too much.

Adults acknowledged Sasuke, and admired him from afar.  _That boy's gonna go far someday, you mark my words._  Sasuke walked the Konoha streets without fear, without that sneering hatred and disgust constantly sitting on his shoulders and Sasuke—

Naruto's breathing calmed, and his butt and back ached beyond belief.  Who the hell made shower floors so _hard_?  And where was the soap?  The soap was frickin' homicidal, that's what the soap was!  Gingerly, he pulled himself to a sitting position.  

Sasuke didn't care.  Sasuke didn't give a shit.  All that, that—_love_, and Sasuke didn't care at all.  

So Naruto hated Sasuke.  Because Sasuke had what Naruto wanted.  Because Sasuke _was_, what Naruto wanted to be.  

Seen.  Acknowledged.  Loved.

Jealously.  Admiration.  Loneliness.  

It was part of what made pissing him off so much fun!  Just knowing that he, Naruto, that damned fox and troublemaker, Dead last could kick Mr. Perfect off his pedestal with a few good words and gestures (No, I'm telling you it's _this_ way!) was priceless.  Sasuke said Left, Naruto said Right.  Sasuke said Go away, then Naruto would say But we're a _team_.  

Petty things, little things.  Trying to pull Sasuke down, trying to push Sasuke out of the spotlight so the would be some room for Naruto to stand in.  Shamefully, pitiably hoping that maybe, just maybe…some of Sasuke's coolness would rub off on him.

Just hoping.  Maybe.

Not trusting the soap to forget it's murderous preoccupation, Naruto decided to rinse off sitting _down_.  At least that way there wouldn't be space to fall.  Yeah, not far to fall, because he wasn't all that high up after all…yeah…

Stupid soap.  No, wait for it…

Stupid Sasuke!  Yeah!  Much better.

Mr. Perfect.  Dead last.

…yeah.

Naruto's breathing grew slowly heavier, and his eyes distant and empty, and he ran his fingers through his soapy hair absently, not really concentrating or feeling the water.  His hands dropped as his heart speeded up, fingers falling rather innocently on the mysterious and deadly bar of soap.

No, he really couldn't worry about falling, could he?  He was a demon.  He _had_ a demon.  And demons were really only fallen angels, angels who had fallen from Heaven's grace to the very, very, _very_ bottom.  How much farther could one possibly fall?  Realistically speaking?  Hell had no mercy after all…and neither did the Konoha villagers, come to think on it.  And he always bent to whatever they wanted, right?  A target.  A scar.  A scapegoat.

Naruto's eyes narrowed, and then closed and squinted as some apple shampoo he'd bought on sale fell into them, one hand drifting back up to his hair to push the soap away from his eyes.  The other hand fisted tightly.  The soap smooshed.

But it wouldn't always be that way.  He wasn't always going to be small and short, bendable and expendable to whatever they wanted.  One day he'd be…he'd be Hokage.  And he'd be in control.  And not the other way around.  That is…if Sasuke didn't beat him there first.

Sasuke.

If someone had lifted up Naruto's upper lip right then, they would have been very surprised.

Naruto's eyes focused back into the cornflower blue arrangement and he stood up quickly, wiping his hand hurriedly on his thigh to get rid of the soap.  Shutting off the water and wrapping himself in a towel, he rushed out to find some suitable clothes.

***

~Naruto POV~

Why the hell does everybody lock their windows?  Isn't he _hot_?  Isn't it stuffy in there?  Hey, wait—Don't tell me that bastard has air-conditioning!  Nobody has air-conditioning!  We all have to suffer this damn weather together right?  

Ah, there we go… _excellent_ job Naruto, you've impressed everybody yet again.  And thus the brave Uzumaki expedition enters the unknown deadly territory: Sasuke's Bedroom.  

Tread carefully team, there's no telling what we might find in there.

Slobbering funky dirty laundry that eats feet, infected plates of last years breakfast that have started their own alphabet… _huge_ pits of acidic sticky hair gel—anything could be in here and even now—there's only the floor.  And the walls.  Hm.  

_Borrr~ing_!

And no air-conditioning.  Damn.  It's too hot in here, how can he even _sleep_ in here?  He's probably cold-blooded or something, some type of giant Sasuke lizard.  He's not moving, and his breathing hasn't changed too much…sleeps on his back, that's _very_ good…

Don't think he heard me come in.  If he heard me come in, I am so dead.  Gotta be quiet, gotta be quick, come on Naruto old boy just get close to him, don't wake him up, scribble on his face with your trusty dusty permanent marker and then run like hell and pretend you were sick all last night because of bad food.  Everybody would believe you anyway, after that thing with the milk...

Remember to run like hell.  Running like hell is important.  

Might have to run like  hell for a while.

Now…uncap quietly…*thwop*…good job, no movement, and think about what you want to draw.  A happy face?  Write "I'm Stupid" on his forehead…no, that would _definitely _be suicide, and he'd know it was me…he'll know it's me anyway, so I don't see what…no, that would be suicide.  Smiley faces are good.  Can't go wrong with a smiley face.  And it's just girly and cute enough that he won't be sure it was me, it could be a member of his druggie fan girl club.  

I hope the tip's not so cold that it wakes him up.  Damn, his hair gets everywhere.  Actually…the tip _is_ pretty cold, it'd be better if I put it on my fingers and then draw…gonna have to be _real_ careful though, and wash my hands super-ooper good when I get home.  All right…just a little dab, very wet…good, and it goes onto his skin great!

There, one right on his forehead, just lightly, don't press into his skin too hard, just enough to get the ink there and keep it there for a while.  Good, now one on his cheek…geez, he has no _meat_ at all on his cheeks, I'm afraid I'm gonna hurt my finger, gonna run out _ink_…Wonder if Sasuke's anorexic.  He's crazy and weird enough, he just might be…There's one with happy eyes, and one with regular eyes and one that's smiling and one that's yelling…and here's one blowing a kiss!  Right…under his eye.  Slow Naruto, slow…listen…his breathing hasn't changed too much, should be all alright,  no worries, step carefully…there.  

Wow.  Whew.  

Who knew kisses were so hard to draw?  At least now he'll think for sure it was some crazy girl, and not the great Number One Ninja and teammate the innocent Uzumaki Naruto.  At least I hope he will.

…Eyes are supposed to be closed when you're asleep right?

Right.

Why are Sasuke's eyes open?

Pretty sure they're not supposed to be like that.

Shit.  

I'm going to die now, aren't I?  

And all because I spent so much time drawing that kiss…

Okay, easy now…just smile gently and pretend you aren't here, that he isn't here, and that none of this is happening…let yourself change a little…and drop the Uzumaki mask.  He probably won't be able to see me without it, just like everyone else… …He's not panicking, so I'm not panicking…He doesn't look angry…I need to move fast, I can't believe this all over one stupid ki—

…hell, one good turn deserves another, right?

Fast.

…

Hell, that was too fast.  I think I'm going to choke on my heart.  God he tastes good, more…

_fuck_

_yeah_

I'm kissing Sasuke.  And Sasuke's making a weird noise, he tastes like really cold water…shit I'm kissing Sasuke!  Fuck!  Naruto, Earth to Naruto!  Wake UP!  I'm not kissing Sasuke!  I'm not I'm not I'm not!  Yak!  Erck!  Ack!

…

…I'm blushing, aren't I?

I must be, he's giving me a dirty look…with all those happy faces drawn all over his face…he's giving me a dirty look and soon he'll kill me…and I can't move at all.

*gasp*

…Am I dead?  I'm not dead.  I'm not.  Am I broken anywhere…I don't think so.  It doesn't feel like it.  It just feels—heavy.  And Sasuke…fell back asleep.  Holding me…

That idiot!  Didn't he know that my legs were bent the wrong way?  That I was totally off balance?  That I could fall down at any second?  Did he even care!  

Mr. I'm-So-Fucking-Perfect Sasuke Kiss-My-Ass-Uchiha didn't even realize the position he had put _me_ into again, and if he did he didn't even care!…

…

It never crossed my mind to hit him.  Or to push him away.  Or even to get away.

…I don't get—I'm not _hugged_, very often.  

He's breathing softly against my ear and cheek, and his arm was warm and too damn _heavy_ over my chest…and I never thought about moving.  I never thought about leaving.  At all.

…He is _so_ going to kill me when he wakes up and sees all his smiley faces…

…but this is kinda nice.

In a really sick, disturbed, lunatic Sasuke way.

…nice…

A/N:Ooohh, the SECOND chapter in Vignette…and I'm taking the story in a completely different direction next chapter.  I hate it when stories get away from me, but what are you gonna do right?  One of my attempts at humor…how did I do?  I can never quite get the laughs right, I'm more of an angst person myself.

Comments sent to -- gelfling8604@yahoo.com 


	3. Trouble Sickness

Vignette: Trouble Sickness

By gelfling

gelfling8604@yahoo.com

Warnings: shonen ai, SasuNaru.  Tension.  A little hostility.  Sasuke-ness.

Archiving welcome.  Just email me first, kay?

***

"Na-ruu-TOOOO!!!!!"

Naruto ran like hell.  

People became blurs, he flew along the sidewalk and storefronts and ping-ponged over the rooftops and ghosted through windows and rooms without a trace except some thudding and muddy footprints.  He fled to the forest, blended with the trees, raced them up and down muddy forest paths and glided back down into the village and darted into the alleyways and byways and concrete labyrinths that only _he_ knew where and when they led out to.

He probably had never run this fast in his whole life.

He couldn't possibly run any _faster._

And yet…Sasuke was gaining.

// _Shit shit shit shit!!!_//

_//He's going to kill me!!!//_

//_Somebody save me!!!//_

//_I'll eat ramen with you!!!///_

//_Please!!!//_

Naruto swerved hard down the left, hand shakily unzipping his orange jacket as smoothly as he could possibly muster.

Sasuke's hand caught the furred collar, and yanked back hard.

_//!!!!NOOOO!!!//_

What happened next was complicated, and very furry and fuzzy.

Sasuke bit off a short cry where Naruto's short legs had caught him in his knee by pure _luck_, Naruto yowling loudly when Sasuke's hand raked over and yanked his ear, nails drawing blood, aiming to grab his hair or his neck and _squeeze until there wasn't anything left anymore._

Naruto slipped and sped off with scarlet scratches from his ear all the way down his neck, and _without_ his mandatory orange jacket.  He didn't stop running.  

Who told Sasuke to be so damn _fast!  It wasn't __fair!_

Incandescent cold hardness.

Right smack in his face.

Ow.  Pain.

Oh.

That was Sasuke's fist.

Sasuke's fist in front of his face.

Ow.  Shit.

Even _more_ pain.

"EEeeee_AAAAHHH_!!!!_"_

***

Naruto, Sasuke seethed, was a pain.  

Naruto was a pain _any_ way you looked at him, and a somewhat good ninja, but _still_ a very big pain.  More trouble than he would _ever be worth.  Ever!_

"…Uh.  Sasuke, you…"

Sasuke turned around.  There was a frigid uneasiness.

"What."

**Ouch**!

"Na-Nothing!  Nothing at all!  I j-just thought that-that, um, ah-You d-did something with your hair!  New!  It looks like you did something new with your hair!  Yeah!  That's all!"

'…and you're all wet.  And I don't want ask what happened to your face.  I don't really want to _know what happened to your face, so we'll leave it at that, all right?' thought Sakura with a nervous smile on her face broader than the street.  Times like this, best not ask.  _

She giggled daintily and shrugged her shoulders, eyes tilted downwards from Sasuke's very violent and Artic stare.  She swallowed nervously. 

Her mind traveled briefly back to this morning where a faraway shriek had woken her up groggily before she instantly dismissed it and fell back asleep.  There wasn't any training today, so there was no real reason for her to get up early and she meant to enjoy it.  

But now looking at Sasuke's face...she couldn't help thinking that perhaps that scream that had nearly woken her up _might have been a little more important than she had earlier thought.  _

It was very good luck that she happened to be a teammate and some-what friend of Sasuke, or else she might have been seriously terrified.  A horrifying sight _nobody really deserved to see was Sasuke coldly angry, his eyes burning black fire even with his hair and clothes wet and plastered with unmentionable gore and black smudges on his face.  Common murderers looked nicer than Sasuke did right now._

She could only hope Naruto was still walking.

Perhaps she should go get Kakashi-sensei.

***

The water rippled in broken concentric circles, bubbling gases in some areas through the primordial sludge and ooze that first gave birth to life on the planet, the huge assortment bacteria and protozoan life particles and algae and other icky sticky things.  

One area grew turbulent, sloshing fizzing green liquid as if some ancient and remote swamp monster was coming forth to again see the light of day after all its years living on the very bottom of the underwater biosphere.    

And from the sludge was born...Naruto!

Naruto hacked and coughed hard, treading water and covered in mud and water-grass, pushing his hair out of his eyes and wiping the mud and algae from his face, his fingers still blackened at the tips.

He hated Sasuke.  He _really hated Sasuke, for so many reasons.  _

Among these reasons was: The bastard was so damn Nice.  It was _so _irritating.  

That wasn't to say that he wouldn't accidentally-nearly beat up his very needed and valuable teammate to mush, or that he wouldn't run him ragged through the wilderness or that good old Sasuke-kun wouldn't shove his near-ally_ face-first _in the first _stink_ing swamp they managed to trip over by sheer _luck_, or that he wouldn't strip his very nearly-friend butt-_naked_ in middle of nowhere completely lost with only his sandals on.

No.  Oh _nn~oo_.  In Sasuke's twisted and de_funct_ book of Nice and Naughty, doing all those things to just a poor guy trying to find a little humor in the world with a permanent marker was not a Naughty thing to do.  Those were _Ok things to do.  Those were __Nice things to do._

Naughty things to do were things like asking what Naruto was doing in his bed, sneaking out loud enough to wake Sasuke up.  Naughty things were asking what Naruto was doing in his room at all, or why the empty mattress space beside Sasuke was still very warm and indented where Sasuke's hand was laid across.  Naughty things were asking why his lips were tingling.  And Sasuke wouldn't do a thing like that.  Sasuke didn't ask any of those things, not even once out of meanness.

So in his own way, Sasuke was a Nice guy.  Still an absolute ignorant and arrogant bastard too selfish and pretty for his own stupid good with all his idiotic petty morals and goals, but a Nice guy in _his _book.

And like all things Sasuke, it pissed Naruto off.  

He was more grateful for that small bit of ignorance than he would ever dare admit, but it still in its own irrational and stupid Sasuke way pissed him off.

Sasuke acted so smart.  Stupid Sasuke.

***

After the fourth shriek, Naruto decided he hated all star-gazers.  

Absently, he threw them the middle finger before ducking.

Naruto ignored the stares and not-really-muffled group giggling that welcomed him when he snuck into the village plodding crankily from rooftop to rooftop.  He was tired of this, had finally said the hell with it all, and decided that if everybody wanted a peek of good old Uzumaki booty then they were damn well going to get it!

Naruto's bad mood was actually quite understandable.  After that early morning fiasco with that motherfucker Sasuke and that goddamned swamp, he had spent more or less the whole day starving to death, wet, stinking and upset.  And the *best* part of it all was that he couldn't even get back to his apartment without someone screaming suddenly in shock of a naked 12 year old boy running through the streets.  

Why hadn't he paid attention when they were learning stealth?  _Where_ was he when they were learning stealth?  He had enough stealth and silence to work on the freaking _missions_, so _why_ wasn't it enough to keep the villager's hentai eyes _off_ his essential parts?

Listen to Iruka-sensei.  Kakashi-sensei is insane.  Must Listen to Iruka-sensei.

…sometimes.  

Naruto's non-existent sense of shame was suddenly birthed from somewhere, making him wait impatiently for night, cold, hungry, smelly and ...yeah.  Very uncomfortable.  _So_ uncomfortable in fact, he no longer cared about much of anything.

Naruto coughed again.  

Swamps were absolutely disgusting.  There should be some type of law against them, they were absolutely dis-gust-ING!  Things were *alive* in the water.  Small little squiggly things with too many little legs on them and crawly little squiggly things and it was just all--

Sasuke had made him *swallow* some of that water!!  Every time he had dunked Naruto into the water he had made him--Naruto wanted to vomit.  Badly.  It was *so* disgusting.  Beyond anything _he ever did.  _

He made a mental note to do something *_really_* nasty to Sasuke next time, and the hell with consequence.

He coughed again, the sound coming out in a painful wet sucking hack that hurt his throat badly, mucus and other icky sticky things gathering in his mouth from his throat.  His face felt flushed.  Ewwe…

He heard more giggling off to the side, and some muffled whispering and sniggers.

Noting that with slight contempt, the blonde boy moved the snot-spit around in his mouth with his tongue, for once not repulsed by the feel or thought.  It _was_ his own fluids after all; they were a part of him any way you looked at it.

Naruto was having a Bad Day.

Nothing a little Uzumaki spit couldn't fix.

Correctly aimed of course.

***

"But Iruka-sen~sei!!  You can fix anything!  You fix _everything_!"

Naruto's voice was quickly becoming painfully hysterical and screeching.  Iruka perspired heavily.

"You've gotta ***fix*** me!!!"

Iruka flinched and gripped the wall tightly to keep from falling down as weight slammed into his stomach, pushing hard against the impromptu miso soup he had had with Kakashi-sensei.  He was going to lose his lunch, he was going to lose his lunch…

"Naruto let go right now!" Iruka squeaked out, his hands wedging between the boy's iron grip and his own body, pulling ineffectually at the skinny elbow.  Why hadn't Kakashi taken care of this _immediately_, like he was supposed to instead of procrastinating and letting the whole thing blow up in Iruka's face?  Why couldn't he be just a _little_ considerate?

…Because he was Kakashi, probably.  

Geez, kids these days…

"Naruto you're being stupid; you're not going to die," Iruka muttered while…  …pull, wiggle, brace up against the wall and push him _down _and try not to think how incredibly _wrong_ this must all look

Iruka was _very_ grateful Naruto's apartment was remote.

He was going to have some very interesting bruises on his hips later.  Those would be treat to explain.  A small whimper caught his attention as the grip on his waist lessened all of a sudden.  Naruto was on his knees next to Iruka's feet, his head slumped against the side of Iruka's knee and inside of his leg, the back of his neck flushed and glistening lightly with sweat.  His breathing was a little heavy.  

'This must all,' Iruka thought, 'Look very, _very wrong.'_

Yet he didn't move the blonde boy or tell him off, vaguely understanding the thoughts going through his head.  It was no small secret between that Naruto was the vessel for the Fox Demon.  If Naruto had a problem and he thought Iruka had time, he usually went to his old sensei, though he tried not to make a burden of himself.  

Iruka knew Naruto was a little different from everyone else; his constant hunger, his constant energy, and his ability to heal instantly.  Emotionally, Naruto was a pretty good wreck.  Physically, he was an unexploited jewel.

Naruto didn't get sick.  

In his whole life of eating bad food and sleeping in the cold and staying up at all hours and getting drenched in the rain with a million and one germs surrounding him, Naruto had never ever gotten sick.  He had watched other kids get sick and get to stay home from school and have their moms take care of them.  To get sick, you needed a mom to take care of you.  Otherwise it didn't count.  Since he didn't have a mom, he didn't get sick.

Iruka-sensei must be his mom.  Because Naruto was very sick.

Naruto snuffled by his knee, and Iruka couldn't help but smile guiltily, melting.  

In a crowd, in public, Naruto wouldn't show the least sign of weakness on pain of death.  He would _die_ before he showed anything but the rebellious in-your-FACE smile to the crowd. But here, alone with just Iruka, he actually felt safe enough to drop the act Iruka and Kakashi had seen through, to just be the twelve-year-old kid he really was.  Naruto felt safe with him.  Naruto trusted him.

Iruka melted a little more.

"Come on kiddo," he said softly, rubbing the back of Naruto's head and pulling him up by his shoulder and cradling him in his arms.  Naruto growled in his throat and scowled darkly at him, wiggling a little bit but not doing anything more.

"Let's get you to bed."

"I'm _not_ sick."

"Naruto—"

"You don't have to treat me like a kid, I'm not sick!"

"Keep that up and you're going to throw up again," Iruka snapped back as he approached Naruto's bed.  

Naruto scowled and turned his head, cheeks still flushed with fever and embarrassment.  He owed Iruka-sensei a clean pair of sandals.  He couldn't believe he'd done that.  He couldn't believe he'd _done_ that, right outside the academy…geez that was embarrassing…he'd come running straight home, and Iruka, of course, had followed him after discreetly cleaning his shoes.

"You know, if you took better care of yourself this wouldn't happen…"

Naruto blocked out the voice as soon as he heard the familiar Learn Responsibility Lecture.  He slumped on his mattress where he was dropped, eyes collapsing on the floor with all its old clothes and comic books and half-opened scrolls and empty instant ramen cups.  Iruka-sensei started taking off his clothes, still droning on about Hygiene and Responsibility and Maturity all to himself and the walls, because Naruto was starting to feel a little sick again.  

Geez, was this how all those kids felt all the time?  He felt like crap and worse, like…crap that was chewed up by some really ugly dog and thrown up and scratched in and he had a fever and he was freezing.  Urg.  Gak.  

His pants were tugged off and his hitae headband slipped from his head without him realizing it, his eyes glassy and mournful.  Iruka sighed quietly and pushed him down a bit impatiently, jerking the sheets over him and swiping his hand over his forehead before jerking it away.  

He carefully didn't swear with all the tact of a man not accustomed to swearing, looking hard at Naruto eyes, before passing his hand in front of them.  

"Erhm."

Iruka pursed his lips together briefly.  "Nothing.  Forget it.  Get some sleep okay?"

"Mm."

Naruto shutdown.

Iruka sighed again irritably, before kicking the clothes in the general direction of the walls.  He slipped out the door and made his way to the pharmacy.  

Well, it looked like the village was in for a few quieter days; that was for certain.

***

He, Naruto decided, was absolutely _normal, painfully _mundane_, next to his darker partner-in-crime and nemesis.  Naruto was simply the living vessel for the kyubbi demon while Sasuke, instead, was insane._

Was very, very insane.  In every way really.

On first meeting, they hated each other.  They hated each other a lot.  They had absolutely nothing in common.  Sasuke was the self-centered popular _bitch while Naruto had been the outcast loser.  Simple situation, simple relationship._

The first one to put a spin on this was Sasuke.  Everything had been going fine!  They had a comfortable "I hate you, you hate me, Everybody's happy!" sort of situation.  And it had been Sasuke who had taken the initiative to rock the boat.  

For half his life everything in Sasuke's mind and soul and heart had been set on attaining ninja prowess.  On becoming the best.  That determination and collecting of skill was, really, the only _real thing Sasuke had in life.  _

Out of the blue, on some irrational quest, Sasuke for some stupid lunatic reason had been willing to gamble all that for Naruto's comfort and stomach.  Admittedly the odds were in his favor, but still…it left Naruto feeling uncomfortable.  Happy, but uncomfortable.  No one really ever went out of their way for him.  No one had ever really gambled so much for him, save Iruka-sensei.  And that was with his life against Mizuki-sensei!!

…But Sasuke would do that too.

Being near each other _chafed_.  

Chafe!!!

And then Sasuke, right out of nowhere, had some insane urge to protect Naruto even though it meant giving his own life.

And he nearly had.  He nearly had.  Sasuke Pin-Up Boy was willing to give up _his_ life for the class retard and loser.  The moron, the "dobe" as Sasuke himself had so accurately put it.  He had later said that his body had just moved by itself, and if Naruto kept freaking out about it he'd kill him himself.  

But Sasuke, somewhere, had thought Naruto was worth dying for.  He'd never say it, never admit it, and Naruto would never believe him even if he did, but the genius prodigy had thought Naruto was _worth_ something.  Worth quite a lot.  And at that moment, with Sasuke bleeding and dying in his arms, still quietly insulting him, something in Naruto had just--

--Snapped.

Sasuke had been the first one to make Naruto accept what he was.  Sasuke was the first one to make Naruto forget the village, forget the hatred and despair and hopelessness and burning longing and Sasuke for the first time had been Naruto's whole _world.  _

They would pay.  Those bastards will pay for what they did!!

Sasuke had strange, mysterious priorities that nobody really knew or talked about but that day…That day for whatever motive or reasoning or whatever temporary insanity shit Sasuke had actively, bloodily proved that Naruto was somewhere at the top of his priorities.  Violently, raw, Naruto had proven the same.  

They might be teammates, but by _God_ they sure were enemies, and _Nobody_ was going to take that away from them!

Naruto had embraced the powerfully lurking darkness to save Sasuke's life; he would do it once more in the future.  Sasuke had saved Naruto's life more times than either cared to count.  

What they were to each other, they weren't sure.  Maybe enemies, maybe rivals; hell, who knew right?  But no one was going to take that away.

In a life with very few _real_ possessions, you guard what you have murderously well.

***

Naruto's eyes slid open, tired and hazy and sick and wanting very much to see Iruka-sensei's concerned face somewhere close so he could beg him into ramen.  Doctor's orders didn't hold a candle next to the Super Uber Ultimate Chibi Naruto face.  Nothing did.  

And.  He.  _Needed_.  _Ramen_!

And no more medicine.  Medicine was icky, disgusting and tasted worse than…than everything.  Than anything.  He could con that out of Iruka-sensei, certainly; he had perfected the SUUCN on Iruka-sensei after all, it just _had_ to work now.  He _needed_ it to work now, especially—more than ever.  It was a matter of life and death!!

Naruto's eyes fell upon the room's other occupant.

"Oh no."

He didn't even have the energy to swear.  

"Shut up," shot back Sasuke.  "I'm only doing this because Kakashi-sensei made me."

Naruto's eyebrows crumbled together.

"I didn't do anything to him to deserve you."

Sasuke merely glowered, faintly sneering.  

"You got sick, dobe.  If we had any missions you really would have screwed us up.  It's only luck we haven't been needed yet."

Naruto merely stared at him imploringly, as if hoping that this nightmare would soon end and Iruka-sensei would magically appear.

'Come _on_ Iruka-sensei, you can do it, you can _do_ it, come on just magically show up like you always do and please oh _please_ make this other guy, this other _nightmare_ go away right now.  Please?  Pretty pwetty please?  Iruka-sensei?'

"Why the hell are you making that face?  You're not going to throw up again, are you?"  

"Oh no."

Cold black embers probed and dissected him, scanning around the room quickly and efficiently.  

"What."

"You're not going away."

Sasuke actually seemed surprised to hear that.  The traditional sneer came easily to his lips.

"Che'" he muttered, turning his head away in disgust, ignoring Naruto effectively.  Naruto scowled despite the energy it cost him.

"Bastard," came a slight whisper.

Sasuke favored him with one eye looking at him dully.  

"Don't think you can beat me up just because I'm a little sick.  I could beat your ass any day of the _week_."

Naruto was glowering at him, face a little flushed and eyes dull, but still bloody _glowering_ at him.  Idiot.  Didn't he know enough to conserve his energy? Sasuke mentally sneered.  No, that would asking too much of his _brain_, and Naruto had precious enough of that to go around already.

"Che'…Idiot," Sasuke muttered loud enough for Naruto to hear, not feeling the need to do more.  He waited quietly for the traditional response.  And waited.  And quickly flicked his eyes to the bed's occupant.  

Naruto was asleep.  

A rare emotion crossed Sasuke's face, and he hushed it up quickly, turning to glare stoically at the wall.

Idiot.  Stupid Kakashi.  Stupid Naruto.  Just because he was too stupid to take care of himself Sasuke had to sacrifice _his_ training time to take of the moron Most Likely to Drown Himself in His Own Sink.  As if it would really matter if Naruto got better soon or not.  He'd probably get himself sick again in no time.

A few minutes later found him rummaging hastily through the cabinets for the medicine Iruka had bought.  

***

There were rules to this sort of thing, Sasuke knew.  

Even in his boxed-in world of mindless revenge, enough daytime TV doggerel had still taught him that there were _rules for this sort of thing.  Such as: Should the patient be bedridden, then he should be terminally ill, horribly scarred, or suffering from some fatal tumor.  _

Hovering possible strip throat was _not a good reason to have a bedside watch at all times, no matter what teacher said.  Sasuke would admit that while teachers were sometimes useful, they usually weren't.  This was such a case.  Iruka-sensei babied Naruto altogether too __much and Kakashi-sensei just enjoyed watching Sasuke squirm.  Jerk.  But back to the rules._

Naruto wore some of the _goofiest_ pajamas Sasuke had ever seen.   

Sasuke was _entranced_ by Naruto's pajamas.  There were watermelons on them.  And underwear and champagne bottles and lipstick.  They were green.  They were some of the ugliest things Sasuke had ever seen.  

Little did Sasuke know in his one-track life, that there were indeed even _uglier_ pajama sets in the creation of man, fearful pajamas that put even Naruto's outrageous tastes to shame--but he didn't.  All Sasuke could really concentrate on was how ugly Naruto's pajamas were, how he was breathing in all of Naruto's repulsive sweaty sticky germs, how boring it was watching him sleep, and how much he'd rather be doing something else.  _Any_thing else.  Naruto--asleep--was so _boring.  _

Naruto awake was irritating.  Slightly better than boring, but not by much.

Sasuke had all the patience of Stonehenge, but watching the sick boy's flushed cheeks and still body felt--weird.  It felt weird to see Naruto being still.  Naruto was _never still.  Most _shinobi_ couldn't stand to be that still that long.  It felt a little wrong, in a strange weird way that Sasuke didn't care to dwell on._

Sighing heavily to himself, Sasuke looked around the room once and out the window, before slipping down to sit on the floor.  The floor.  The _clean_, empty floor.  That Sasuke had cleaned up of all its funky dirty laundry and random ramen cups was a serious indicator of how bored he was.  

He had nothing to do, was forbidden to leave, and it…didn't feel quite right to be training in Naruto's house.  He wasn't sure why.  It just made him uncomfortable.  Just _being_ there made him uncomfortable.

He wanted to leave.  He _really_ wanted to leave.  Sasuke had come to treasure his own space viciously; other people just made distractions.  Sometimes the distractions hurt him in ways he couldn't heal, couldn't get revenge on.  

Sakura was good at that; making him feel things he couldn't afford.  Warm and queasy and he kept wanting to swallow.  Naruto was too, but Naruto at _least_ could occasionally improve his style.  He made a good punching bag.  Not much else, but a good punching bag.

He sighed heavily, before allowing himself to fall on his back, staring at the splotched ceiling.  Nothing Naruto owned seemed to stay clean for very long, save his clothing.  

The walls, the floor, even the _ceiling_…none of it was fantastically dirty, like with random green and tomato splotches and moldering mushrooms or anything, but it was just…mundanely dirty.  Like there was no point in being clean, but not so dirty as to make a statement.  Naruto's whole house was mundanely dirty, mundanely boring.  So tarnished and _empty_.

And not very…Naruto-like.  Not what he had expected.

Sasuke's own apartment was empty too, but at least it was clean.  At least you could _breathe_.  Sasuke's own apartment was a _huge_ contrast to Naruto's; but then it would be.  They were so different they never should have been put on the same team.  They were too different to work well together, except in a few sweaty situations.  

In fact, even though Naruto was so bloody loud…

He had to get out of here.  

Sasuke stuck his arms up straight and whirled them around in their sockets, before considering and sticking his feet straight up too, and swishing them in the air.  He looked like a beetle on its back.

He had to get out of here.  He was going mad.  

Naruto was crazy.  That loony looser (Sasuke mentally winced but plowed on ahead) was _infecting_ him, and not with his germs.  

Had to…get _out_…

Kakashi-sensei wouldn't have to know.  Nothing bad would happen to Naruto.  Sasuke wouldn't be neglecting his duties.  It wouldn't be a bad thing.  Sakura wouldn't care; hell, she might even sub for him!  Kakashi-sensei would never _know_…

_Sasuke didn't really **care** anymore_!  

He needed out!  The hell with Kakashi, the hell with his grade!  He was the _best_, his skill was sharper than any genin his age, pride of the Uchiha's and he was slowly losing his mind in the worst hellhole known to man!!!

…Naturally, Naruto had created said hellhole.  That's probably what made it so bad.

Sasuke clenched his teeth together as he rolled around the _clean_ carpet, wadded up in a ball and screaming faintly in his throat, nearly pulling at his hair. 

To see him, Sakura would have fainted.

He was having a Bad Day.  He was having a fucking Bad Crappy FU Day and he couldn't see a clear way out of it.  

He spent the day _outside_ in the fresh air, whipping his body into the maximum fitness and perfecting his style.  Sasuke _slept_ when he was too exhausted to even dream, when he barely had energy to eat or drink.  He was _used_ to that, he _liked_ that.  He did _not_ spend the whole day locked in a smelly stuffy apartment of the worst torment known just because some hentai told him to!!!

Spontaneously, Sasuke's sat up rapidly.  His eyes locked on Naruto on the bed.

…Still sleeping.  How could he _still_ be sleeping?  Here he was, willing to make himself look the fool if it meant just getting _away_ and Naruto had never woken up all through his little show.  At all.  

Until Naruto got better (which would take forever) his quickest way out of this mess was if Naruto threw him out of his apartment.  And that would be a good thing because Sasuke _wanted_ to be thrown out.  

First he had cleaned and aired the place.  Naruto hadn't woken up.  Hadn't thrown him out.  Then he had trashed all the ramen packets he could find.  Hadn't been thrown out yet.  Then he had started on the comic books, burning them on the stove before dropping them in the sink.  Next he had discovered how many times he could drop a plate before it finally shattered (5 falls).  Hadn't been thrown out.  Yet!  Just now was…well, he wasn't sure _what_ that was, but it obviously hadn't worked.

Sasuke didn't like Naruto; that was fairly obvious.  Sasuke had also saved Naruto's life on multiple occasions; that was true.  If anybody _else_ had abused Naruto's apartment like Sasuke was he would hurt him _badly_; that was certain.  

He had saved Naruto's life.  He was endowed to screw with him a little.  He was trapped where neither jutsu nor brute strength could help him.  He was losing his shiny smooth matte _mind_…

With a disgusted sigh Sasuke stood up suddenly and strode to the door, hammering his fist into the framework with a satisfying crack and crunch that sent the cheap plaster blooming into a mothy cloud, leaving a nasty hole.  He turned around.  Nope.  Not thrown out yet.  Sasuke's mind wandered.  

…He could dump water on him?  Too unsubtle.  Poke him?  No, then he'd have to touch him.  Talk at him until he died?  No, he'd have to talk to him.  Throw things at him?  No, he had done that already, and the idiot hadn't even felt the wadded paper ball hit his face.

Sick his ass.  Just faking it.  He wouldn't notice an earthquake in his sleep in mint-condition anyway.  

What to do, what to do?

…Strip him naked and throw him on the floor?  Hm…Possible, but Naruto had already called him a hentai in the last 72 hours after he had 'stolen' his clothes in the swamp anyway.  He hadn't cared, but there was no point in doing it again.  Had wound up burning the clothes, in case Kakashi-sensei had planned on making him wash them.  He had.  The look on Kakashi's face—Kakashi's eye, had been very interesting.  Nearly as interesting as that bit of grime on the wall.  When he told him.  And got thrown into the sinky sanky land of Naruto-ness.

Sasuke ceased motion, and quickly ceased thought.

…He had to get out of here.  He was going insane.      

He had walked into the kitchen.  Naruto's apartment as insanely small; nearly as small as his own.  His eyes trailed over the walls.  Various posters were taped or thumb tacked to it very tackily.  

_Training & Discipline_

_Number 1 Ninja!_

_Training & Discipline_

_Training & Discipline…And More Training & Discipline_

_Do Your Everyday Exercises_

_Do Your Best_

_Kick Sasuke's Butt!!!!_

_Training Menu: 1. 10K Run…_

Sasuke's eyes zeroed in on one particular poster.  He stood quite still in the middle of the room, invisible to the inattentive eye, before a very small, very _thin_, smile slit between his lips.

Burning the comic books had been quite fun; the most entertainment he had had all damned day since he had been condemned at 8:30 this morning, an eternity of 7 hours ago.  Burning posters would be a bit more difficult, but then there was growth in challenge.  And hell…if this wouldn't get him kicked out, he didn't know what _would_.

…Except for burning the dobe's clothes in the sink, but that might be considered a bit far.

***

Naruto was nearly a weaker mirror to Sasuke.  

He also knew what it was like to be completely alone, the frantic desperation and hellish insanity inside every empty echo of his empty apartment.  Watching Naruto fumble about was so much like Sasuke had fumbled about when he was so much younger, so naïve and so terrified of the cold world he'd been thrown into buck-naked and headfirst, wearing only his name that became his collar.

And if Sasuke helped Naruto it was nearly--nearly like he was protecting his younger self.  Somehow.  Someway.  It didn't make sense, but it did make him feel better.  Sasuke didn't wonder too far beyond that.  He was healing some of the minor old scars; or at the very least, scabbing them over.

***

Warm…heavy…so _tired_…

Sleepy, sleepy…feel nice.  Feel…safe.  Funny word…safe.  Want more.  So sleepy…sleep now…sleeping…

Itchy…stuffy…

It's smoky.  No smoke.  No more smoke.  Makes it itchy, makes it cough.  Urgh…

…_cough_.  Throat.  _Owww…_  

Pain.  Pain and bleeding.  So raw.  Burning blood, hurts so very muchly.  Make…make…make…make…

Stop.

Strength.  Hard.  Coldness on his lips.  

Cold _hardness_ on his lips, it hurts.  

Make it go away.  

Hard.  Cold.  Stop it.  Hard.  Hurts.

…_aahhhh_…

_yes…_

Smoothness.  Smooth wetness, sweet.  Clean coldness down his tongue, sleek.  Make hurt stop.  Making hurt stop so _nicely_.  Mmmm…very nicely.  

_More_.  Want…more…now…

…sleepy.  So sleepy.  Mmm…feel so _nice_…mmm…

***

Sasuke sighed loudly with relief.  Then he realized how foreign it sounded.  Why was it strange?  …Oh yes.  He didn't make noise.  _Other_ people made noise.  He didn't.  Damn it.  

It was catching.  Damn.

Nevertheless…maybe burning the posters had been a bad idea.  It had _seemed_ a good idea though; right up to the part where the smoke had started really growing.  It hadn't been that _bad_.  Naruto was probably just sensitive.  Geez, just what the village really needed: A sensitive idiot.  

The _comic books_ hadn't made that much smoke, there wasn't too much difference chemically with the damn posters.  There was no reason for them to do that!  Geez…the world was just against him today.  And—even though he hadn't really _done_ anything—Sasuke was indeed tired.  He had no idea how it had happened.  

His heart was racing.  

He had barely heard Naruto coughing; he might not have heard him at all if he hadn't been paying attention.  Soon as he had he rushed to the sink and…

…It was catching.  It was _catching_.

He resisted the urge to faint and scream.

Sasuke Uchiha had just screwed up his greatest chance to get thrown out of Naruto's apartment.  It had been there.  He could have been _free_.  If he had just _waited_ a little longer, it would have _happened_.  But he hadn't waited so it didn't so he was still stuck here and now he was going to be stuck here the whole fucking night!

It was catching.  It was so bloody catching.

His fingers clenched around the glass, and he toyed briefly with the idea of breaking it over Naruto's head.  He might not notice.  He was that far gone.  It was completely possible he wouldn't notice.  And it would make Sasuke feel a _lot_ better.

Naruto sighed softly in his sleep.

Black eyes widened.

Sasuke knew something was happening, he knew at once that he hated it.  But since he didn't know what it was or how it was happening, he didn't know how to stop it.  He exhaled noisily through his nose, trying to control his first impulse that involved a lot of force and violence in yet undetermined ways.

"Idiot…weakling," he muttered over his shoulder as he marched rigidly back into the kitchen with the sink still blackened from the fire and soaking wet, and threw the glass hard enough into the sink to shatter it into many small pieces.

***

Sasuke sat on the wall and glowered.

It was the only thing he felt real comfortable doing at that exact moment, practicing chakra control.  Sitting on the wall wasn't real hard.  Besides, he was brooding; that always enhanced his concentration for some strange reason.  

Right now, he was brooding on how to kill Naruto.

Not "kill Naruto" as in make "Naruto stop breathing," but more along the lines of make "Naruto never get sick," again and to stay as far away from Sasuke as possible.  As in make "Naruto regret he ever _met_ Sasuke." Suppose _he_ got sick as well?  His mental state was already in danger, but his physical health?  Would Kakashi-sensei willingly risk that?  Had he even thought this out?  

Che'…probably not, knowing him.  He'd be too busy reading his stupid book, getting off fictional characters getting off each other.  How sick was that?  Pathetic.

Whatever.

Sasuke still wanted an out.  Still none had really come.  

He had been surprisingly thoughtful and tried to feed Naruto dinner (chicken soup), as humiliating as that had been, but fortunately Naruto was too gone to eat anything.  It would have been more embarrassing to feed him.  It had been embarrassing enough with just Sasuke witnessing it.

Sasuke sighed softly to himself.

Moving on to more important things he didn't…

He didn't have a place where to sleep.  There wasn't even a couch; just the very, very basic table and chair.  Weren't too many blankets either.  They were all on Naruto.  Kakashi wouldn't let him leave.

Kakashi-sensei had been by; he hadn't been happy about the sink's condition.  Said Sasuke was not here to vandalize the sink; it had been tormented enough already.  Said Sasuke couldn't sabotage the walls either, so not to think on it.  Said Sasuke was to stay here and watch over Naruto while he slept; he would be most vulnerable then.

Sasuke had said things too.  He had said this was stupid.  He had said Naruto was stupid.  Had said Naruto got better all the time naturally _anyway_, so it was pretty stupid to get all worked up over something so menial.  Sasuke had said a lot of things.

He was stuck tonight and tomorrow.  

He had no idea why he had gotten so mad.  It would have been better if he hadn't gotten mad and yelled at Kakashi-sensei.  But he hadn't been thinking.  Why did he always get mad whenever Naruto did something stupid like this?  Why?  

At any rate, he had written all over the ceiling in permanent marker.  It was childish and immature, and totally unbecoming the head of the Uchiha clan.

He had nearly smiled.

But right now he didn't have a place to sleep, and that was what he really wanted right now.  He was tired.  He had no idea why.

***

Sasuke Uchiha came from a prosperous and esteemed shinobi clan.  His brother, Itachi Uchiha, was the elite ninja of the village at a very young age; his early teens.  He slaughters the clan one afternoon, but purposely allows five-year-old Sasuke to see what he has done, and lets him live.  He makes Sasuke promise to kill him.

Throughout his growth, Sasuke remains haunted by his brother's legacy that he cannot destroy and cannot run away from.   He does not seem able to grieve for his family.  His emotional growth is retarded.  

***

Sasuke had to choose between achievement and comfort, and for one the few times in his life, perhaps the only one, he had chosen comfort.  He was going to get _so_ sick after all this was done; that would cut into his training time more than it already had.

He tried to snuggle more into the thin and slightly rank sheets and banged his elbow on the floor.  He was being foolish, he knew, but he truly didn't care.  All other options were too uncomfortable to think about, so he had kind of compromised and—sort of pulled the bed out on to the floor, so he wasn't sleeping with Naruto but wasn't freezing on the empty floor either.

It wasn't too uncomfortable.  He had slept for a whole 27 minutes and 43 seconds before the floor smacked his elbow, and he had woken up groggily.  That was nearly a whole half-hour.  Wasn't too bad, all things considered.  

Instinct made Sasuke tense, his eyes snap open and fingers loosen even before he knew what _it_ was.  He listened quietly.  Naruto's breathing sighed in relief, before returning to a scratchy monotone, and Sasuke held his own breath.

It was a soft sound, like a scratchy whisper.  And there was, very faintly, a small flaring of chakra.  

Sasuke waited, looked around, and then slid to standing with his back against the wall.  Nothing.  Just Naruto and the walls, nothing on the other side of the bed or kitchen or bathroom, and it didn't _feel_ like he was in danger so—

There.  

Sasuke flicked his eyes to Naruto's nightstand.

There was a candle on.

It was interesting but not really a surprise to learn that Naruto didn't have electricity.  It was pretty expensive stuff, and just living off his missions and the village's generosity wasn't nearly enough to pay for it.  Sasuke didn't have electricity either anymore; he had had it as a child with his parents, but not anymore.  

Sasuke had pulled out the candles from under the emasculated kitchen sink, and had placed a couple in the room just in case.  He hadn't lit them.  But two of them were burning steadily, the wax pooling down steadily on the one next to Naruto.

Silently as a ghost without all the rattling chains and frigid temperature, Sasuke stole through the tiny apartment.  For some reason, he wasn't really expecting to find anyone, and he didn't.  Which meant that Naruto, who _supposed_ to sick, had _still_ found a way to be annoying.

Not bothering to silence his footsteps, Sasuke walked to Naruto's bedside, and idly wondered what to do, looking down at him without really seeing.  Immediately pouring hot wax down his shirt sounded very tempting, and Kakashi-sensei was so very far away…  Before he knew it, Sasuke's fingers had quietly picked up the bedside stick.

Naruto inhaled sharply in pain, and his face tensed faintly, its imbecilic immobility cracking.  His fingers clenched at the sheets, and he was trying to move his shoulders forward.

Sasuke blinked.

He hadn't even _done_ anything yet.

So what the heck?  

Naruto whimpered in his throat, the sound nearly missing Sasuke's attention completely, and his chest rose quickly, chin tilting down towards his chest.  Trying to cover his throat, Sasuke realized.  A defensive move.  

The dobe was having a dream.  Or nightmare.  One of those.   Oh.  

He cried out softly, and—

Sasuke's eyes widened.

--and there was that tiny flare of chakra.  Sasuke turned around.

"No _way_," he muttered softly.  But it was.  The third candle was lit.  

He turned his eyes back to Naruto's face, slightly relaxed again, but still grimacing under all that baby-fat he still had on his cheeks.

That surely wasn't…possible?  It was possible in a very loose sense, but the dobe didn't actually have that kind of control, that kind of understanding over his chakra.  He didn't have the brains to do that.  Even in his sleep—especially in his sleep!  So how the hell…?

Sasuke scowled, but put the candle back on the nightstand.  Weird.  And not a good sign.  Still nowhere near _his_ amount of power and control, but still not a good sign at all.  He wondered if Naruto even _realized_ what he could do.  Probably not.  Most likely not.  So it was useless to him, if he didn't know what he was doing but still…

Sasuke was definitely hitting the training grounds hard tomorrow, no matter what Kakashi-sensei said.  He had lost a day already.  And with Naruto progressing this quickly, he was nearly worried to wonder how everyone else was doing.  He sighed softly again.

Naruto's face tensed.  The nightmare was returning.  

Sasuke frowned, annoyed.

What, did he have the same one over and over?  Just like…

Sasuke turned his eyes away.  After a pensive moment, he shamefully slapped his body into motion and made his way around the bed, back to where he had been sleeping.  Naruto whimpered, deep in his throat.

Yep.  The same nightmare, over and over again.  In the same order, by the sound of it.  Irrationally, Sasuke got angry.  What did that idiot have to have nightmares over?  Bad movies?  People-eating Ramen?  Getting in trouble?  He didn't have an excuse; he wasn't special.  He didn't know anything about real pain, about real horror.

Sasuke's eyes smarted.

Naruto didn't have an excuse.  He didn't know a damn thing.  He didn't know anything about that, he probably never would.  He was too _happy_ to understand it, that pain.  Too disgustingly happy and stupid to ever comprehend it.

He shouldn't have to understand it.  Sasuke didn't want him to.  No one ever should have to understand.  It was too much.  Even for Naruto…especially for Naruto.

'Naruto and Sakura both,' his mind quickly amended.

Sasuke wanted to protect them from that, though he wouldn't recognize it.

The sheets were slightly damp and chilled beneath his fingers, and quickly, before he lost his nerve, he slapped Naruto lightly on his cheek.  Naruto cried out softly, and the candle by the bedside sputtered.  But he didn't wake up.

Sasuke sighed.

Steeling himself, flexing his fingers that he _knew_ he was going to scrub to no end once this was over, he grabbed Naruto by his shoulders and shook him roughly.

Sasuke's back slammed against the floor, and his cheek felt eerily cold and numb while he struck around blindly, and tried to pry the hands from his throat.

"Naruto you idiot!  Let go!" he shouted, slightly muffled because the dobe seemed a _lot_ stronger in his sleep.  Sasuke's legs flailed, but he was kneeling on his stomach, holding on too tightly to his throat for Sasuke to kick him off.  Red blurbs clouded his vision, and his throat was burning and sharp, hard on the inside…

"Sasuke?  _Sasuke_?"

Sasuke's knuckles cracked smartly along Naruto's jaw.

"Bitch," Sasuke shot out crisply as he wiped his mouth.

Naruto cradled his jaw in his hands, tears in his eyes and flat on his ass, just gaping at him—well, stupidly.  

"What are you _doing_ there?"

Sasuke sneered condescendingly.  "Sitting down idiot, what does it look like?  Do you need a dictionary to understand everything?"

Naruto chest just heaved violently, cheeks flushed but face pale and slightly sweaty, dark blonde hair damp and tangled.  His blue eyes were gaping, soggy and frightfully wide; he looked terrified.

He tackled Sasuke again, this time shaking his shirt in his hands and shouting into his face from that annoying 3-inch habit he had.  Sasuke scowled darkly.

What, did he think people couldn't hear him if he wasn't that close?  He probably couldn't understand _them_; but then there were so many things Naruto didn't understand it wasn't even an issue.

At any rate, Sasuke wasn't listening to Naruto.  There wasn't too much to understand.  He was surprised and angry, and needed something to vent on, and wasn't making any sense anyway.

"—_ever _wake me up again!  I could have _died_ from a heart attack asshole, and what the hell then _right_?!"

Sasuke sighed and started to push Naruto off.

"Hey!  Are you even _listening_ to me!"

"No," Sasuke muttered.

"--You could have killed me, don't you even _care_?!  You don't care, do you!   You—You—YOU!!"

"Are you gonna get off or do I have to hit you again?"

Naruto gaped.  He looked like a fish bowl.  Or…what was the saying?  A fish?  A glass bowl?  A duck or something like that, Sasuke didn't know and didn't care—

"Bitch!"

—But he wanted Naruto off.  He was breathing pretty heavy and Sasuke fancied he could hear his heart racing all the way from where he was straddled on the floor.  Suppose Naruto threw up on him?

Naruto—instead—just shook his head irritably, wearily let it drop to his chest with a tired and frustrated groan.  He was so damn tired and Sasuke just had to make everything difficult just like always.  Geez…idiot…his head was pounding painfully so much he thought his eyeballs were going to pop out, he had bitten his own tongue and all he wanted to do was just sleep and relax back into the darkness the cool inky darkness and Sasuke just had to…just had to…

Just wanted to sleep.  So _much_.

Naruto was in fact so tired that he fell asleep on the spot, eyes closing and body shutting down.  Immediately.  Even Sasuke could recognize that.

Sasuke scowled.

And collapsed right on top of _him_ to boot.  

Without thinking, without allowing himself to feel _anything_, Sasuke lugged Naruto up gruffly by his shoulders and tossed him roughly on the bed, fighting with the sheets to get him somewhat covered.  And then he huffed, harassed and forgotten while all Naruto did was drool in his sleep like always.  Except he didn't really drool.  He just sort of…laid there, and didn't move much.

Against his will, irrationally, Sasuke's fingers reached out, but he pulled them back before he did anything suspicious.  Naruto was out like a light; completely gone.  Just like he had been the whole day Sasuke had been there.  Geez.  What a punk.

Still, Sasuke couldn't stop scowling at him.  He wasn't the least bit sleepy anymore; just worked up and irritably tired.  Naruto was so—

Sasuke inhaled deeply and closed his eyes, trying to collect himself and find his center.  The candle _was_ right there, but that didn't mean it was a good idea.  It was _tempting_ idea, true, but not necessarily a good idea.  Just an idea.  That was all.  But not a _good_ idea.

Sasuke sat slumped against the bed in his impromptu nest, and debated what to do.  He wanted to sleep.  Naruto wouldn't _let_ him sleep.  Much aggrieved, he realized he had spent another half-hour not doing anything.  He brooded some over how to kill Naruto again; he came up with the idea of fuzzy blue bunny slippers and some poison, and let his mind wander gleefully.  

When he heard the very slight and sharp inhale, Sasuke swore angrily and dented the floor with his fist.  Against the walls, the candlelight flickered.  Sasuke narrowed his eyes, waited, counted to 30, and heard the small, nearly silent whimper from Naruto's throat.  Again, he swore furiously, stood up and whirled on Naruto sleeping helpless.

Sasuke let his fists fall back almost immediately.  

He almost took a step back.

Shit.  Fuck.  

Definitely.

Oh…damn, what the hell did he do now?

Naruto was crying.

What should he do, what should he do, what should he do…???

He wasn't trained for this, this wasn't his thing.  _Girls_ were trained for this, this was _their_ thing, not his.  They held people and told them—_stuff_ (God knew what) and bandaged them and made it all better again.  He killed things and screwed people over, he didn't comfort people.  He couldn't even comfort _himself_—what the heck was he supposed to do Now??  He'd never had training for _this_…

When had this happened to him?  What _could_ _he_ do?  What should he do?

His memory scanned itself automatically.  

What would—Sasuke bit his lips gently—what would _she_ have done?  If Naruto had been him, and he had been her?  What would she have done?  He had been sad when he was little, he remembered; not all the time, but it had happened.    

Tentatively, nervously, Sasuke's fingers reached out again, and just ever so mildly in ways that you really couldn't document, brushed the back of his knuckles against Naruto's striped cheeks.

Nothing happened, but his knuckles got wet.  Sasuke scowled, perplexed and at a loss.

How had she done it?  He wasn't sure; why should he know at all!  That was forever ago, way before anyone was really expected to remember anything!  Why should he care what the idiot felt?  Why should he care at all?  …why should he care about anyone?

Sasuke knew the answer.  He shouldn't.  He shouldn't at all.

But…still.  

Naruto snuffled, and turned his head to the side.  

Sasuke struggled, swore, and made a point to stop thinking.

And he thought very hard on his mother; for the first time in years.  

Cool, smooth fingers traced over his flushed skin, wiping away the sweat and tears.  Just gently pushing it away, smoothing it over.  Running through his hair, scratching lightly at his scalp and pushing his hair back.  Cold, smooth, and kind of hard like stone, but still so gentle over his skin.

Naruto moved gently under his hand, slowly tilting towards him, leaning into the caress, because that's what it was; a caress.  

It was one of those…embarrassing occurrences that everyone goes through, when the action seems absolutely logical and indeed, even inevitable at the time, but on later cowardly reflection appears to be the most foolish thing anyone could have thought of at all.  

Regardless, with the warm sunshine—not really melting so much as warming—the late autumn frost, easing away the sharp edges of the icicles and reminding the ice of the free flowing river it once was, Sasuke really didn't mind so much.  It was worth it.  It wasn't a good idea; probably never _would_ be a good idea, but right now it was absolutely…worth it.  Worth it all.

He sighed softly—with relief for the first time since the whole fiasco began, draped as he was across Naruto's chest, fingers brushing along his skin wherever he felt like.  Naruto was warm.  Naruto was very warm; most it probably from the fever.  

He looked so defenseless sleeping like that; Sasuke knew he was.  They were both were.  If anybody were to see him like this, he would never live it down.  Even if Naruto were to see him like this, he'd never live it down.  It'd be a black mark on his reputation forever, and his reputation was the only thing Sasuke should be protecting at all.  

He was doing a Bad Thing, Sasuke Uchiha knew.  Lying here relaxed with another boy, with a _sick_ boy no less, and the Forbidden Child to top it all off with some mint and a cherry and whipped cream.  

This time, Sasuke did smile.

He was still pretty tired though; he really should be getting to sleep.  

Even though now he could finally think and breathe without all his mental chains, without all his excess emotional baggage he always carried around just because it was a thing he did.  That thing girls found so irresistible about him, probably.  They could have it.  He didn't want it.  It just belonged to him, but that didn't mean he wanted it.

He was relaxed, and impossibly…Sasuke let his eyes slide shut, one finger still sliding idly along Naruto's face, through his hair…his head was empty.  Empty, but he didn't feel—alone.  

How could he be alone?  Naruto was with him; the minute he woke up Sasuke would be scrabbling for the corners trying to get some space for himself.  No one could be alone with Naruto; he'd drive you insane first.  He had driven Sasuke insane; he would never dream of doing this if he wasn't.  He wanted to.  He just suddenly wanted to.  Sharp, like a needle of bitter maple candy.

And for a short second, a second so short it was hardly worth a grain of sand, Sasuke let the insanity get a stronger hold, because he didn't dream what happened this time.

Naruto still tasted like miso.

It had seemed absolutely natural to kiss him like that, to touch him this way.  Sticks still rapped against the side of Sasuke's head, saying that this was a Bad Thing, but Sasuke wasn't really listening to them anyway.  He was comfortable.  Naruto was warm.  And he felt so good.

Sasuke sighed softly, pretended he was dreaming again, and just continued to brush and move his lips lightly against Naruto's.  Not even real strong, not even a real kiss because—still—Sasuke Uchiha didn't do things like that, but what he _was_ doing felt incredibly nice and wonderful, and a little like a real childhood.

Lightly, he bit down on the tip of his tongue, liking the way it roughed gently and rubbed his nose against Naruto's carefully, because—Who knew?—he was sick after all.  Without really willing it though, without really _realizing_ it, Sasuke's movements were indeed becoming a bit too strong, a bit too forceful as his free hand cupped Naruto's shoulder, gripping a bit tightly, so caught up in his own murky dream that he didn't quite _realize_ what he was doing.  He tilted his head, pressed a little harder down against rough chubby lips, and felt his heart paw at his ribs like a puppy.

Fingers brushed against his neck; a tongue grazed against his lips.

Sasuke tried not to scream.

He considered briefly transforming into Sakura, or some other girl, then blushed and sat up straight, eying Naruto coldly.  He was an Uchiha, damn it.  He'd keep that.  No one was taking that from him; especially not Naruto.

Naruto kept his eyes closed, still breathing heavily.

Sasuke's fists clenched so tightly the bones cracked, jaw clenched so hard it nearly felt good.  He was trembling.  

Naruto's breathing evened out, but he still didn't open his eyes.  His mouth remained slack; slightly open.

"Naruto," Sasuke spoke solemnly, not betraying the shakiness he was feeling inside.  "Open your eyes."

"Naruto you gay _bitch_," Sasuke practically snarled, furious and taking it out on Naruto because it came so easily, "if you don't open your eyes right now I'll sic Sakura on your ass and she'll beat it until you're not even a blond shrimp anymore."

That'd be a nice one for his pride; to have the love of his life beating him to a bloody pulp out of jealously for his rival.  Showing off how easily he could manipulate things, how easily he could manipulate _her_.

Cold and dignified.  Hard pause.  Waiting for the twitch, for the clue.

Nothing.

Don't hit him, don't hit him, don't hit him.  That won't fix anything.  Wait until he wakes up and _then_ hit him.  Hit him real hard.

"She'll beat you into the dust for this you know, you perverted loser."

That should get it.  Naruto was notoriously thin skinned, quick tempered at the slightest touch.  Placing him and his teacher in the same category was guaranteed to get him going.

But he didn't grab him.  He wanted to; to shake him and wake him up and admit everything and then beat the hell out of him, but he needed him to wake up and admit it first.  He had to say.

Nothing still.  Sasuke was getting nervous.  He decided to try his hand at diplomacy; to see what happened.

"Do you understand that, dobe?  If you open your eyes now, I'll never mention this to anybody, I swear it.  Well?"

A longer pause, Sasuke's voice coming out a breathy whisper, huskier than normal.  

"Naruto?"

Nothing.  Just the pale serene beauty laying innocent in dreams.  Completely unaware how vulnerable he looked, how vulnerable he really was.  Completely missing Sasuke's perspiring anxiety, the hungry-angry look in his eyes.

Sasuke swallowed, and heard it go down his throat.  He clenched his fists again and opened them.  His temples felt frozen but his face was on cold fire.

"I had a dream last night," broke the words feathery against Naruto's still and parted lips.  "I dreamt…you…"

Painstakingly slowly, clumsily, Sasuke's trembling lips brushed against Naruto's warm still ones and Sasuke had to swallow quite quickly, wet his dry and throbbing lips.

Then he just closed his eyes and tilted his head and—just let himself go.

This was wrong.  This was wrong.  This was so wrong and Sasuke had never—hadn't felt this good in such a long time, in such a damn long time he couldn't even remember it anymore.  All he could remember was _This_, this right _Now_, and he felt so good he was sure he wasn't awake, he wasn't alive anymore.  He _never_ felt this good.

Inside him, something cracked.

An animal sound stumbled up his throat from somewhere deep in his chest, his heart galloping madly in his throat trying to jump out his mouth, his teeth clinking against Naruto's, his tongue so deep inside him that he could touch his _molars_.  Fear slid off Sasuke's back in thick black marbles, clinking on the ground with a telling sound; he was so afraid he would have to stop before he even got a _chance_ to really start, just like before.  Just like growing up.

He didn't want this to go away.  He couldn't _have_ this, and as soon as somebody knew it was going to go away so fucking _fast_ and leave him kneeling in the dust just like before and Sasuke didn't want that, not again please not again.  Not this, not this feeling, not this.  

His tongue touched his lips, pressed and kneaded them and sucked them in and rarely had Sasuke Uchiha felt so totally awkward and clumsy as he did now.  He didn't know what he wanted, he didn't know how to keep it.  He just knew he wanted it and Naruto—

Sasuke winced at the name.

--Naruto had it and if he just…

Just what?  

Sasuke broke away, breathing hard and heavy like he had just run a race, with a slight hitch in every third note from the pain and the fear of his stomach trying to slaughter itself on a stake, eyes clenched tightly shut as he tried to hide his soul.  He pressed his forehead against Naruto's because he was too weak to move further away.  He was too weak to do anything right.

He inhaled deeply, and prayed it wouldn't be as bad as he thought it would.

Sasuke opened his eyes.

They glistened, the angles wobbly but still sharp somehow.  The eyes themselves…you could pick out the ashy-gray this close, see the blue smoke color that wasn't really blue at all highlights around the iris.  Bits of burnt crimson, and the pearlescent black space of the iris without all the stars.  All that in a washy background, still so sharply defined but so much more fragile than it had ever seemed before.

Naruto's blue eyes blinked sleepily up at him, tired.  Tired and obviously not very awake yet.  Then, quite lightly, Sasuke felt fingers brush against his cheek, along his chin, and he could nearly imagine pressure pulling him down.

He opened his mouth and tried to say something, but then closed them because he didn't have anything to say.  Steadily, slowly, his head was moving down.  Clumsily, Naruto frowned at him sluggishly, and pulled down a little harder.  Sasuke followed.

Sasuke swam against his lips, into his mouth, feeling his hand cup around his neck weakly and try to thread through his hair, those burning hot hands in his hair and he couldn't hold back the whimper that dashed up.

The candle by the bedside flared; the vanilla wax translucent with heat to the bottom.  

He didn't know he could do things like this, didn't know he could feel things like this.  It wasn't safe, what he was doing.  Move his tongue that way, rubbing it and pressing it against and around Naruto's mouth like a cat in heat, like some base animal while little sounds came out of his throat, sounds he didn't even know he could make.  It was like dancing on fire, touching like this, feeling his skin trying to rip off his body and fly away.  Sasuke whimpered and moaned deeply, felt his bones scream, and drove in deeper.

His hands were everywhere…he couldn't control what he was doing, he couldn't control what he was feeling, he couldn't control—

Sasuke threw his body off the bed, stumbling on his feet and still backing away, his chest heaving rapidly up and down, hands held out in front of him.  On it, Naruto coughed, in a way that hurt to hear it.  His lips were bruised, and he was clutching his right shoulder.  Eyes still wide, something like fear still rolling off him in sheets, Sasuke battled himself quickly and won.

He couldn't do more but shove the glass in the blonde's hands, make sure some of it got in his mouth, and wait for his coughing to die down, and see that Naruto didn't spill too much water on himself.

Sasuke locked himself in the bathroom.  

He wrapped his arms around himself in the middle of the very small room, and stoically trembled there without a word.  A few minutes later, he threw up in the toilet.

He didn't come out until dawn.

***

Naruto coughed again, once, but the water cooled his throat still nicely quickly.  He let himself fall back, more tired than he had been that entire day.  He hadn't needed to sleep so bad as this; it felt like he was drugged.

Still, he winced lightly, blood-shot eyes taking in marked-up and mistreated ceiling, the candle next to him burned down to nothing.  He inhaled deeply and felt his heart soothe a little, slow down a bit to a rate that didn't excite him anymore, didn't frighten him anymore.

If you had asked him what he was excited or frightened of, he wouldn't be able to tell you.  His mind still didn't have dimension; still too cotton-fluffed to really realize…

Something Big had Happened.  He knew that.  Something…not really good but still so…important, that he should know it.  But it was…over now so…he couldn't do anything.  Anymore.  But he hoped.  That he had done all right.  Whatever it was.  He wanted it.  To be all right.

Lightly, unseen, Naruto placed his fingers to his lips.  

He fell back asleep that way, with his fingers cupped over his mouth.

***

Kakashi-sensei woke Sasuke lightly from his psuedo-floor-nest with a smile.

"No problems?"  
  


Sasuke looked him in the eye.

"No.  No problems."

"Great!  Glad to hear it.  We'll talk about the ceiling later."

***

I had a dream last night

I dreamt you were by my side

Walking with me, baby

My heart was filled with pride

I had a dream last night

I'm gonna find a place to live

Give you all I've got to give 

I had a dream last night

I'm gonna love you more than life

If you'll only be my wife 

I had a dream last night

I'm gonna love you night and day

I'm gonna try in every way

I'm gonna find a place to live

Give you all I've got to give

--_When We Dance_, by Sting

***

A/N: I'm placing this before the Chunnin exams, because that's when Naruto beats the crap out of Gaara.  Before then, Sasuke's impressed by Naruto, I think, but still doesn't take him too seriously.  He still sees him as a little kid, or someone to take care of; too weak to take care of himself.

Naruto really _does_ have those posters in his room in the manga; I saw.

This was re-written soo~oo many times.  First I wanted a super-uber fluffy ending with a lot of dream action.  Then I wanted an angsty-fluffy "Oh, I l**e you so much," ending with some tears and fighting and maybe a confession.  _Then_ I wanted a super-cute but kind of waffy ending, just a hinting ending without any real action.  More dream stuff.  And then I got this.  Many _Sandman_ references, I thought.  

I am thinking…That this is the final chapter for this story.  I am thinking so.  I definitely am.  Yes.  Good-night now, and sweet dreams ^__^


End file.
